Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 17,614 Shares of Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UVE) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 106,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,614 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Universal Insurance were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UVE. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its position in Universal Insurance by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 18,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Insurance by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 195,267 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,112,000 after buying an additional 21,035 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Universal Insurance in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Universal Insurance by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,415 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Universal Insurance by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 61,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 23,830 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Universal Insurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity at Universal Insurance

In other Universal Insurance news, Chairman Sean P. Downes sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.08, for a total transaction of $441,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 990,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,863,616. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 90,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,700 in the last quarter. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Universal Insurance Price Performance

NYSE:UVE opened at $22.68 on Thursday. Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.50 and a 12-month high of $23.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $637.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Universal Insurance (NYSE:UVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $384.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.91 million. Universal Insurance had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 4.82%. On average, analysts anticipate that Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Insurance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Universal Insurance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Universal Insurance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.16%.

Universal Insurance Company Profile

Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated insurance holding company in the United States. It develops, markets, and underwrites insurance products for personal residential insurance, such as homeowners, renters/tenants, condo unit owners, and dwelling/fire; and offers allied lines, coverage for other structures, and personal property, liability, and personal articles coverages.